IT firms seek to continue running business in non-commercial areas

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services president Syed Almas Kabir speaks at a press conference at the BASIS office in Dhaka on Wednesday. BASIS senior vice-president Farhana A Rahman and secretary Hashim Ahmed were also present. — New Age photo

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services on Wednesday urged the government to allow IT firms continue running their businesses housed in non-commercial areas as software parks were yet to be ready for them to move in.BASIS demanded issuance of an official order in this connection.The association came up with the call at a press conference at its office in Dhaka following a recent move by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to close down IT firms housed in residential areas without serving any notice.The association top brass said that the process needed to be halted as it would require a few more years to complete the government-owned software technology parks.‘The government has set a target of earning $5 billion from software and Information Technology Enabled Service exporting by 2021 and that will not be achieved if we get this type of barriers from the authorities,’ said BASIS president Syed Almas Kabir at the conference.He said that the government had already taken initiatives to build 28 software technology parks in different cities and before completing the parks IT firms needed support to run their businesses in non-commercial areas.‘When these parks will be ready for use, we believe BASIS member companies will be accommodated in those dedicated sites,’ said Kabir.BASIS president said that RAJUK had recently closed down the office of IT company Solution 9 Limited for being located in a non-commercial zone of Uttara without any prior notice, which damaged the company’s reputation severely.Prior to that, RAJUK had closed down BASIS member company’s offices at Uttara and Dhanmondi.BASIS currently has 1,100 member companies, of which 800 are running businesses in non-commercial areas providing employment for more than 1 lakh people.Farhana A Rahman, senior vice-president of BASIS, said that member companies with clients in the United States, Japan and across Europe required providing services 24/7 for different time zones, but commercial spaces would not allow them to work round the clock.‘Software and ITES works are solely dependent on brain work, which needs a quiet environment. These firms never create noise or disturb neighbours,’ said Rahman.BASIS leaders said that they were in the process of negotiating with the housing and public works minister and the Rajuk over the issue.